“Eddie, what’s the matter?” said his mother. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Why did you draw this here on the first page?” said Eddie, pointing at the symbol. He knew she’d seen it before-in The Enigmatic Manuscript the night they’d moved to Gatesweed-but after everything that had happened, it horrified him to see that she had drawn it at the beginning of her notebook too.

“Oh, that thing?” said Mom, almost distracted. “I don’t know. It just sort of popped into my head when I picked up the…” She didn’t finish. She suddenly looked embarrassed.

“When you picked up the what?” said Harris.

Eddie’s mother blinked. “When I picked up my pen,” she said, “the symbol popped into my head. For some reason, I wrote it down. For luck or something. I didn’t really have a reason.”

“What kind of pen was it?” said Maggie.

Eddie’s mom took a step backward. “I don’t know. It was something I found in one of my husband’s boxes of antiques,” she said. “In fact, I think it was in there with that book I gave you at the beginning of the school year, Edgar.” She waved to her husband, who stood several feet behind Eddie. “Honey, didn’t we find that pen at the same antiques fair as Edgar’s book?”

“Yeah,” said Dad. “I think so.”

“The pen… What does it look like?” said Eddie, his voice rising. He knew he was starting to sound paranoid, but he could barely think, never mind speak.

“It looks like a… small silver dagger,” said Mom. “It’s very pretty. When I hold it, I just… want to write.” The three kids stared at her. “What’s this all about, Eddie?”

“It’s nothing,” he heard himself say. “Do you still have it?”

“Of course,” she said. “It’s at home.”

“Where?” said Eddie. “Can we see it?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “Yes, I’ll show it to you tomorrow morning. When I’ve finished my book.”

“No!” shouted the three kids together. Mom was so startled she nearly fell backward into the food table.

“Sorry, Mom. Can we see it now?” said Eddie.

“You’re being very strange, Eddie,” said Dad. He moved a folding chair as he took a step toward his wife.

“I know I’m being strange,” said Eddie. “But it’s really important.”

“Fine,” said Mom, exasperated. “We’ll be heading out in a few minutes.”

After Eddie’s parents said goodbye to Frances, they all piled into the blue station wagon. Eddie, Harris, and Maggie squeezed into the backseat.

“I really wish you kids would tell me why you’re so upset,” said Eddie’s mother.

“We’re not upset,” said Maggie. “We loved your story. We’re just curious about… how you wrote it. That’s all.”

“You’re curious about a pen?” said Eddie’s dad.

Harris coughed. “We… really like pens.”

Eddie nudged Harris in the ribs. His parents weren’t stupid. Harris turned red and shrugged.

It was dark by the time they arrived at the Fennicks house. The kids scrambled out of the car and tried to wait patiently in the living room. Eddie’s mom brought her “pen” downstairs, and when she finally handed it to Eddie, he felt a jolt. It was freezing cold. The tip was sharp. And its chain seemed to shimmer like the tail of a comet. It looked and felt just as he imagined it would. The weight of its history was overwhelming.

“Satisfied?” asked Eddie’s mother.

“Sure,” said Eddie, trying to control the fear in his voice as he headed up the stairs to his bedroom. “Can we borrow it for a second? I want to try something.”

“Well…,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Okay. Just be careful. I need it.”

“We’ll be careful,” said Harris, following Eddie.

Upstairs, Eddie ushered his friends into his room, closed the door, and leaned against it.

“Can I see it?” said Harris, sitting at Eddie’s desk. Eddie handed the pendant to him. Maggie knelt next to Harris, reached out, and touched it too. “Do you think it’s real?” Harris added.

“If it is, then this all finally makes sense,” said Maggie.

Eddie leaned over Harris’s chair, opened his desk drawer, and pulled out a piece of paper. Harris handed the pendant back. Gripping it like a pen, Eddie pressed it to the paper. Miraculously, a black dot appeared there. Eddie dragged the tip across the paper, drawing a sharp black line from corner to corner. “It’s real, all right. Why didn’t I realize this before now?” said Eddie, his voice shaking.

“Realize what?” said Harris. “How your mom ended up with this thing?”

“Yes.” Eddie took a deep breath. “Remember the box that the search party found in the Nameless Lake? It was supposed to contain The Enigmatic Manuscript and the pendant that Nathaniel hid before disappearing?”

Harris nodded.

“The police lost its contents, and somehow the book and the pendant ended up at the Black Hood Antiques Fair.” Eddie put the pendant down. He didn’t like the way it felt. The cold seemed to be burning his skin. “My parents happened to buy both items. And just like the pendant led Nathaniel Olmstead to Gatesweed, it began to work its magic on my mother. That’s why we moved here. My mother said so herself. She came looking for inspiration and found it in Gatesweed.”

“So your mom’s been writing this book since you moved in?” said Harris.

“Yes,” said Eddie. “Somehow, the Woman in Black must have gotten her to write the story that Nathaniel Olmstead refused to finish. My mom didn’t realize what she was doing. She thought that she’d finally come up with a good idea.”

Maggie stood up, crossing her arms. “If your mother finishes writing the book, the gate will open. The Woman in Black will be able to come through.”

“We can’t let that happen,” said Harris.

“But how?” said Eddie.

“Tell your mother she has to destroy her manuscript,” said Maggie.

“It won’t matter if she destroys the manuscript,” said Harris. “First of all, according to Nathaniel Olmstead, it can’t be destroyed. Second, the Woman in Black has been waiting around since, like, the beginning of time for this to happen. She will just get someone else to write it someday.”

“You’re right. We can’t destroy the manuscript,” said Eddie. He stared at the black line he’d scratched across the paper. He thought about all of Nathaniel’s books hidden in his basement-a permanent record of the town’s awful legacy. There had to be something they could do to end it. “Do you think we can… destroy the gate?”

“The gate?” said Maggie.

“The stone child,” said Eddie. “In the woods. Maybe… if we destroy the statue, we destroy the gate? That way, the Woman in Black will never be able to come through!”

“That’s brilliant!” said Harris.

“But how do we destroy the statue?” said Maggie. “According to the legend, hasn’t it existed, like… forever?”

Eddie glanced into his open desk drawer. A shape at the back caught his eye. He reached inside and pulled it out. It was the hammer he’d brought with him when they’d snuck into Nathaniel Olmstead’s house. “Stone breaks if you hit it hard enough,” said Eddie. “Doesn’t it?”

“Let’s hope,” said Harris.

“When should we do it?” said Maggie.

“You heard my mother,” said Eddie. “She wants to finish her book tonight.” The light on the desk began to flicker. They all stared at it for several seconds. Then Eddie added, “So we need to go now.”